Bid to wrap up Odeon in time for City Park opening in doubt (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)
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Bid to wrap up Odeon in time for City Park opening in doubt
8:30am Tuesday 14th February 2012 in News
By Jo Winrow, City Hall Reporter
The City Park mirror pool with the Odeon forming the backdrop
Hopes of wrapping the decaying Odeon building to screen it in time for the first major event hosted in the nearby City Park now look in serious doubt.
Regeneration chiefs at Bradford Council have been in discussion with the owners of the key city centre site for some time – first with Yorkshire Forward, and now with the Government’s Homes and Communities Agency.
But they have grown frustrated at a lack of progress to improve the look of the 1930s building, which is a backdrop to the multi-million pound six-acre City Park project.
Councillor David Green, the Council’s executive member in charge of regeneration, told the Telegraph & Argus they hoped the addition of scaffolding around the Odeon at the weekend, could provide the opportunity for something to be done.
He said: “The screening of the building would be of great benefit to the city centre in general and the City Park in particular.
“Whilst I can appreciate that the Homes and Communities Agency has all the legal processes to go through along with Langtree Artisan, I would hope that both parties recognise that as landowner and developer they have a responsibility to Bradford – and that they could find some way of resolving the legal problems and take advantage of the scaffolding being up to act to wrap the building to make it look more pleasing.
“We have been having discussions with them about wrapping the building for some time since they took over from Yorkshire Forward and I would hope they will be able to do the work prior to the opening of City Park at the end of March.
“It’s frustrating. I appreciate that they have taken on the responsibility for a lot of assets and are going through their new portfolio, but I would still hope they can make some progress here with as little delay as possible.”
A spokesman for the HCA told the T&A: “There will be a wrap but the question is who will put it up and when, as we don’t know at this stage.
“We don’t want to leave it as an eyesore, so we have a commitment to putting an appropriate wrap around the building, but it will depend on signing the section 106 and development agreement and how long that takes.”
Building wraps are commonly used for advertising or for obscuring buildings undergoing work or refurbishment. The design can often include an artist’s impression of what will be unveiled after the work has been completed underneath.
The T&A reported in 2010 how the Council first called for something to be done to prevent the Odeon being a blot on the landscape ahead of the opening of the City Park. At the time Yorkshire Forward said it was considering temporary cladding amid concerns the sight of the run-down building could overshadow the show piece development.
Cladding is currently being installed on part of the former police station on the edge of the City Park after half of the building was demolished to make way for the park scheme.
The HCA took over ownership of the Odeon site in September and is now in discussion with developer Langtree Artisan over a legal agreement which has yet to be signed and over the potential purchase of the site.
In 2009 the Council gave consent for the Odeon to be demolished and passed the designs for New Victoria Place, subject to the signing of the legal agreement. The redevelopment consists of a hotel, offices, restaurants and flats.
A structural survey has recently been undertaken by the HCA which resulted in scaffolding going up around the Odeon building at the weekend to allow vital health and safety work to be carried out on the roof. The work should be completed by the end of March, which means the scaffolding could still be in place by the time of the first major event in City Park – a celebration event which is being held on Saturday, March 24.
Comments(75)
Albion.
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10:38am Tue 14 Feb 12
Avro
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10:41am Tue 14 Feb 12
Thee Voice of Reason
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10:47am Tue 14 Feb 12
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Welcome to our world and how we feel with this shambles we have running the city.
BD16
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11:02am Tue 14 Feb 12
onference venue then we wouldn't have this problem.
As it is we are going to have a Bradford landmark demolished for apartments that nobody wants to live in, offices that nobody will work in and yet another budget hotel.
Well done Bradford council.
Thee Voice of Reason
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11:29am Tue 14 Feb 12
Avro wrote:Looks like the new council plan is simply to hide problems in an attempt to make them go away.
Hiding the truth won't make it go away!
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The Odeon has been rotting away long before the park was started to complain its an eyesore now is laughable.
Outraged Citizen
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11:36am Tue 14 Feb 12
Perhaps they should get David Copperfield to make it disappear.
angry bradfordian
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11:52am Tue 14 Feb 12
I'd like to know how much public money had been spent on maintenance, repairs & security to the Odeon since it closed- it must be running into hundreds of thousands by now.
Rambo
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12:15pm Tue 14 Feb 12
"first major event in City Park – a celebration event which is being held on Saturday, March 24"
Thats only 6 weeks away - why not say what its in aid of? Wonder what its celebrating? Probably a Bradford Council Celebratory event, where they can all massage their own egos and invite the public help out. That or refugees and how they've improved Bradford.
BantamsRus
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12:17pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Thee Voice of Reason
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12:18pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Rambo wrote:City are at home this weekend, i may pass through and warm up my voice by letting the councillors know what many of us think about this vanity project.
They probably couldn't find a paper bag big enough.
"first major event in City Park – a celebration event which is being held on Saturday, March 24"
Thats only 6 weeks away - why not say what its in aid of? Wonder what its celebrating? Probably a Bradford Council Celebratory event, where they can all massage their own egos and invite the public help out. That or refugees and how they've improved Bradford.
Yorkshire Lass
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12:30pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Thee Voice of Reason
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12:32pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Yorkshire Lass wrote:Don't worry all they need to do is close a few more care homes to get the money.
Scaffolding is now going up at what cost and is it going to be the taxpayers money. As for cosmetically covering up the large Odeon Building in its entirety, so that the City Park will look better for its main opening, whoever authorises such a project should be fired. Does Bradford Council know we are in a recession or are they so ignorant and arrogant that they can still waste money in this manner.
I can see clearly now...
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12:33pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Pity poor Bfd!
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12:39pm Tue 14 Feb 12
To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I was actually desperately upset and absolutely livid.
Whoever designed such a desolate, dreary, soulless space should hang their head in shame let alone the counsellors who approved it! No vision or forethought - just some C1970 block paving that isn't going to stand the test of time.
If you look at the image at the top of this piece the only buildings of any architectural value are the Odeon and the Alhambra.
Isn't it time Bradford Council just packed their bags and left, they've done nothing but damage here!
Tex@s37
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12:46pm Tue 14 Feb 12
legallyblonde
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1:12pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Bradford_lad81
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1:14pm Tue 14 Feb 12
I hate being negative but the actions of Bradford council with matters such as this hardly give you reason to be positive.
Bradford_lad81
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1:16pm Tue 14 Feb 12
zippiehippie
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1:19pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Thee Voice of Reason
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1:40pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Who are the most incompetent of all?
*Councillors look out of the City Hall to see their reflection*
angry bradfordian
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1:49pm Tue 14 Feb 12
legallyblonde wrote:I completely agree.
Its another case of "The Emperors New Clothes Syndrome" that the whole council seems to suffer from - time to take off the rose tinted specs and see what a mess Bradford is - I dont know where they are looking but the Odeon is the least of the worries about Bradford, and if they had done the right thing in the first place the Odeon would now be a music venue that we lack and in use and bringing tourists to one tiny corner of the City, young people = live music = money coming to Bradford instead of going to Leeds Sheffield etc to see bands, plus if they played their cards right maybe music classes to get some of the kids off the streets could be run - and maybe tea dances for the more mature generation too. But meanwhile the council think they can throw a cover over it and it will go away.
The council's main problem is that they seem to think that if they issue enough press releases about the pond then everybody will be brainwashed into thinking it's great.
A couple of weeks ago Councillor Green said that he'd only had good feedback from the public. My only conclusion of that is he's either a liar or he doesn't actually speak to the public. He obviously hasn't read these (admittedly small) sample of comments every time the pond is reported on.
Conversely, I am yet to meet a single person who thinks it was a good use of our money.
yangyeight
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2:13pm Tue 14 Feb 12
everyone walking past does not look interested in the puddle (too busy worrying about beggars!)
the odeon and alhambra are all that makes the picture look good.
make sure i'm busy on 24th i think, shopping in halifax, hudderfield, wakey or white rose if city away.......
Bowling Girl
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2:33pm Tue 14 Feb 12
I no longer live in Bradford, but visit occasionally - very sad to see what they have done to her.
shoesman1
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2:37pm Tue 14 Feb 12
shoesman1
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2:55pm Tue 14 Feb 12
spinnekop
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3:26pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Banktop
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3:26pm Tue 14 Feb 12
It looks like another big hole, only a flooded one this time. Maybe they could introduce the unwanted geese from Leeds / Bradford airport, then let them fly into an aircraft that will take out the whole city centre in one go.
TheClouds
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3:44pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Clowny
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4:41pm Tue 14 Feb 12
legallyblonde
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5:12pm Tue 14 Feb 12
ollie59
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5:22pm Tue 14 Feb 12
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Plenty of volunteers to come forward with a wrap in Bradford I think
More Ham
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5:23pm Tue 14 Feb 12
MontyLeMar
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5:40pm Tue 14 Feb 12
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My thoughts exactly!
For a bunch of over-paid executives to get into a lather about spoiling the opening event is pathetic. Look around! The whole town centre is a disaster zone - makes Athens look attractive, even after the street battles.
Joedavid
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6:13pm Tue 14 Feb 12
shoesman1 wrote:Catch a cold or something.
when i come to bradford next i could bring my beach caster whith me and see if i can catch eny thing in the mirror pool
schroeder
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7:24pm Tue 14 Feb 12
picknick
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8:21pm Tue 14 Feb 12
LOL
This cladding is see-through glass and behind the see-through glass is very Cheap Ply Board if this is the new Bradford Keep it and give us soon decent housing!!!!
I can see clearly now...
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9:11pm Tue 14 Feb 12
RichShiel
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9:35pm Tue 14 Feb 12
The Art Deco Odeon Cinema is just another gem waiting to be lost for ever in a once proud city's crown. Take a look at Leeds which has retained its beautiful buildings but not Bradford!
Regeneration in our city centre will not come with water fountains and ponds.
but by perhaps making Bradford into a centre of culture and the arts. We should be proud of our Art Deco Odeon and put it to good use, and put a spirit of hope back into Bradford. May I suggest that turning the Odeon into an Art Gallery and Social History Museum could make our city centre attractive. Come on Bradford wake up!
and don't hide the Odeon.
Reality001
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10:55pm Tue 14 Feb 12
BD16 wrote:Bradford Council did not own the building or have the money to buy it !!
If David Green had done the sensible thing and had the Odeon facade refurbished and then developed it as a concert/exhibition/c onference venue then we wouldn't have this problem. As it is we are going to have a Bradford landmark demolished for apartments that nobody wants to live in, offices that nobody will work in and yet another budget hotel. Well done Bradford council.
Thee Voice of Reason
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10:57pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Reality001
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11:00pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Bradford_lad81 wrote:So Bradford Council should spend £30million pounds towards developments it does not own - Where does the value for money come into that
When will this sorry saga end. All i can see of the "city park" everytime ive walked past or in the picture above is a few strategically placed puddles on a stone floor with 4-5 giant lamp posts. It really is a sorry waste of nearly £30 million. Someone at the council needs to be held account for this, especially when there is so much more in Bradford that could have put that money to good use. As suggested in previous comments above, £30 could have gone a long way towards developing the odeon site, or even kick starting the retail agenda without waiting on Westfield. I hate being negative but the actions of Bradford council with matters such as this hardly give you reason to be positive.
mrs walker
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11:13pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Tex@s37 wrote:The money was assigned by the previous LibDem/Tory coalition council, who also, under the direction of Kris Hopkins, now a Tory MP, stitched up the thousands of people who wanted to see the building saved, by holding a kangaroo court of planners and councillors and using the threat of possible legal action to push through the regeneration order.
Why was all that money spent to construct a pond & fountain, that let's face it will just have rubbish thrown in it by all the scuffers. That money could have been spent on doing something about the Odeon building and transforming it into a live music venue or something. I can't actually believe what I'm reading here... they want to try and cover it up for an event! What an absolute joke! Bradford Council you are a joke!
But because of the debacle with the Westfield hole they can't knock it down until the new development is assured, so the last council allowed the building to deteriorate (google 'cut pipes odeon'). Some might suggest this was a deliberate move, in the hope that it would become so decrepit that it would become a public safety hazard.
Bradford Council aren't brilliant but be fair - the present incumbents had their hands tied with both the city park, and the Odeon. The paperwork was signed. They couldn't get out of the contracts that the previous council had signed up to.
mrs walker
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11:34pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Demolishing the Odeon supported the T&A's future business interests (the selling of the T&A press hall to extend St George's Hall). Demolishing the Odeon seemed to become something of an ideological crusade for Maud Marshall of BCR, and for Kris Hopkins too.
The more the little people of Bradford fought to save the parts of their city that they had pride in, the more determined the controllers of budgets, and power and policy were to stamp their bootmark on a city they didn't even live in.
By the end of their tenure, it felt like spite.
RichShiel
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11:43pm Tue 14 Feb 12
Reality001 wrote:Bradford might not have money to spend but its flawed planning has wasted millions. The approved developements which have turned out to be disasters ever since the 1960's.
Bradford_lad81 wrote: When will this sorry saga end. All i can see of the "city park" everytime ive walked past or in the picture above is a few strategically placed puddles on a stone floor with 4-5 giant lamp posts. It really is a sorry waste of nearly £30 million. Someone at the council needs to be held account for this, especially when there is so much more in Bradford that could have put that money to good use. As suggested in previous comments above, £30 could have gone a long way towards developing the odeon site, or even kick starting the retail agenda without waiting on Westfield. I hate being negative but the actions of Bradford council with matters such as this hardly give you reason to be positive.So Bradford Council should spend £30million pounds towards developments it does not own - Where does the value for money come into that
Bradford City Planning needs to step back and take a long hard look at itself and see what it is really doing!
RobsterUK
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8:25am Wed 15 Feb 12
Thee Voice of Reason
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8:36am Wed 15 Feb 12
RobsterUK wrote:Take time?
Typical fickle people of Bradford, moan moan moan. If this was in Leeds you'd all be moaning "how come Leeds always gets things like this and we get left behind". Personally I cannot wait for the Odeon to be demolished. It is an eyesore and needs to go. Get a decent bar to replace the Lloyd pub and the centre will be thriving soon. These things take time and people of Bradford need to wake up and leave the past behind.
It's not like the Odeon has been closed for over a decade is it, exactly how much time are you talking about?
johnhem
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9:26am Wed 15 Feb 12
MisterBD
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10:04am Wed 15 Feb 12
picknick
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10:24am Wed 15 Feb 12
Superdoo
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1:31pm Wed 15 Feb 12
You couldn't make this up could you?
Lizzydripping
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1:51pm Wed 15 Feb 12
RobsterUK wrote:Do you actually live here?
Typical fickle people of Bradford, moan moan moan. If this was in Leeds you'd all be moaning "how come Leeds always gets things like this and we get left behind". Personally I cannot wait for the Odeon to be demolished. It is an eyesore and needs to go. Get a decent bar to replace the Lloyd pub and the centre will be thriving soon. These things take time and people of Bradford need to wake up and leave the past behind.
TirNaNog
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5:21pm Wed 15 Feb 12
Wrap it in dynamite and I'll gladly press the button!
Clowny
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6:42pm Wed 15 Feb 12
RobsterUK wrote:Bradford's regeneration buzz was started in the late 80's with the bouncing back campaign. For over 10 years the official footfall survey has shown a massive decline.
Typical fickle people of Bradford, moan moan moan. If this was in Leeds you'd all be moaning "how come Leeds always gets things like this and we get left behind". Personally I cannot wait for the Odeon to be demolished. It is an eyesore and needs to go. Get a decent bar to replace the Lloyd pub and the centre will be thriving soon. These things take time and people of Bradford need to wake up and leave the past behind.
.
How much more time is needed?
roksee
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11:43pm Wed 15 Feb 12
Once again, that picture just goes to show why we should retain the Odeon.
Such a breath of fresh air.
Visit Bradford, ratherstickneedlesineyes
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12:20am Thu 16 Feb 12
Do Bradford council really think they can polish a turd!
stiflers mom
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8:30am Thu 16 Feb 12
better in black and white than it does in colour !!!
Crags
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11:12am Thu 16 Feb 12
tonksy69
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12:18pm Thu 16 Feb 12
Keep burying your heads in the sand because one day its going to come and bite you on the a**e!!...
H8E US
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12:51pm Thu 16 Feb 12
Lizzydripping
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7:28pm Thu 16 Feb 12
Visit Bradford, ratherstickneedlesinHahaha. Thanks for a good laugh.
eyes wrote:
What a lovely sight it will be in the summer with all the scrats with there mckensie three quarter length joggers, bear chested drinking there blue wkd's outside lloyds, throwing obsanities at passing ladies, before running through the puddle to punch some unlucky chap in the chops for staring at them through the reflection of the pond!
Do Bradford council really think they can polish a turd!
MisterBD
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8:27pm Sat 18 Feb 12
Reality001
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9:08pm Sat 18 Feb 12
Crags wrote:Then don't blame any one but yourself for shops going bust in Bradford.
The city park is utter nonsense and a waste of money. I have lived all my life in and around Bradford and am truly embarrassed by the laughing stock it has become over the years. No one wants to invest in a deadbeat city. If my employer relocates to Leeds then I will never have to set foot in the crater mess again.
Taking your money to Leeds is no different to an immigrant sending their money abroad.
BD2 Wfc
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11:45pm Sat 18 Feb 12
Ladyshrew
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8:55pm Sun 19 Feb 12
In order to attract shoppers and investment I agree that the toilet that Bradford has become needs renovating however I desperately feel that more could have been done for the money
BD2 Wfc
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10:08pm Sun 19 Feb 12
Outraged Citizen
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12:26am Mon 20 Feb 12
Visit Bradford, ratherstickneedlesinWhat on earth are "mckensie three quarter length joggers" ? Some type of training shoes perhaps? or is it a raincoat? I give in.
eyes wrote:
What a lovely sight it will be in the summer with all the scrats with there mckensie three quarter length joggers, bear chested drinking there blue wkd's outside lloyds, throwing obsanities at passing ladies, before running through the puddle to punch some unlucky chap in the chops for staring at them through the reflection of the pond!
Do Bradford council really think they can polish a turd!
Outraged Citizen
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12:31am Mon 20 Feb 12
TirNaNog wrote:Turn it into a new Jobcentre, just some new carpets, desks, and a few fake plants....and THEN dynamite it!
You might be able to cover it up but we'll still be able to smell it. It hums!
Wrap it in dynamite and I'll gladly press the button!
6teddies
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2:16am Mon 20 Feb 12
Well not to worry "they know what they're doing?!" Right?? lol
6teddies
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2:29am Mon 20 Feb 12
All the grand old buildings are nearly gone and the fat cats are getting fatter i wonder what they will sell next or destory maybe the townhall any offers out there
DevonBull
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2:31pm Mon 20 Feb 12
6teddies
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12:51am Tue 21 Feb 12
Paul BT
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3:56pm Tue 21 Feb 12
Peter_X
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10:41am Sun 26 Feb 12
Maybe they could mask all the Asians who seem to be wandering around Bradford wherever you go by making them wear paper bags over their heads, just for the day?
Who knows, with any luck it may become a trend?
Peter_X
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11:04am Sun 26 Feb 12
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